Black Saddlebags Dragonfly (Series), In Flight

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

Here are four images captured in a total of one-fifth of a second. The camera was auto-focusing between each shot. I’m posting these images not because of their aesthetic quality, but instead because they might help us understand how a dragonfly flies.

Black saddlebags are relentless flyers. I’ve never seen one at rest. They might slow down a little, but I’ve never seen one actually hover. Dragonflies of this size can fly 80 body lengths per second, which is why they are so darn hard to capture on a camera. For this project, I was in the field for about an hour and came home with 1,687 frames. There were 15 keepers, which, for this kind of shooting, was actually a good yield.

Dragonflies can control all four of their wings independently. This dragonfly was flying on a pretty straight path, which meant that his wings were relatively symmetrical. In the future, I’ll post some images of dragonflies with their wings in bizarre configurations.

The hindwings of a dragonfly are more important than the forewings in generating thrust. They move over a greater amplitude, reaching a lower position at each stroke. You can see this in the second frame in the series. Because the hindwings are moving over a larger range, they have to beat a little faster than the forewings. Overall, the forewings and hindwings are about one-fourth out of phase.

OM System OM-1 Mark II. Post-processing in Affinity Photo 2.

Specific Feedback

I’m interested in all of your comments.

Technical Details


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You have mastered in flight shots of dragonflies, Russell, while I am hoping one day to get a shot! Thank you for sharing the images and your comments to help us understand the wing movements. Very interesting. That is amazing to think that you captured all four shots in one-fifth of a second!!! Mine blowing what these cameras can do now a days.

Excellent series, Russell. Thanks for the information on Dragonfly flight technique, it’s quite interesting.

I Have No Words !!! Great Capture. IN FLIGHT !!!

Hi Russell, really interesting information. Great to see all the wing positions at work in this series.

Russ: Masterful captures and wonderful explanation of the wing movements. Many kudos for the images and the education. >=))>

Exceptional!
Not a wing tip blurred in the slightest, excellent panning technique. Very impressive.
Thank you for the information on their flight skills, hard to imagine, being clumsy as I am, moving four parts of my wings independently since I can’t manage it with the limbs I have most of the time.

Wonderful captures and great info on how they fly! Saddlebags stay busy and are hard to catch.